Festival Evolution: FestEvo App

     With festival season approaching fast, we’re all in a scramble to find out what festivals we’re going to attend and who of our friends are going too. Well ease your mind and scramble no more, we’ve found the perfect app to assist you during festival season. Our dear friend, Tucker Gumber, and his team of dreamers have a passion for festivals and they are in pursuit of developing and funding an app called FestEvo.

Tucker’s quest of FestEvo spawned from spending the last three years of his life reviewing festivals from his website: www.TheFestivalGuy.com. His ultimate goal from the start was to find ways to improve the festival experience. His idea was to go to as many festivals as possible with the belief that eventually an idea to improve them would soon come into fruition.

Suddenly, the idea came to him after attending South By South West. After returning home and catching up with friends on Facebook, Tucker saw pictures being posted from many of his friends that had attended SXSW as well.  Missing the opportunity to connect with his friends because he didn’t know that they were attending the same festival, Tucker realized that festivals would be improved if everyone knew which of their friends were going to each festival ahead of time.  So he created a mobile app and website to diminish this problem, and he continuously added new features through the concept of “wouldn’t it be cool if…”

FestEvo makes sure you always have people to go to festivals with by showing you which of your friends are going (or want to go) to each festival. FestEvo makes it easier to know the entire lineup by giving you access to every festival lineup and letting you listen to each artist via Spotify and SoundCloud. The more artists you know, the more fun you will have. FestEvo also helps the festivals improve by having the users fill out surveys so they get real data on ways the festival can improve. 

The biggest feature in FestEvo is the Camp feature. Every member is encouraged to create a “Camp” with the people who they are going to the festival with. Having everyone in a group chat leading up to the festival will help everyone get to know each other leading up to the event. FestEvo will also work with the camp creators to encourage its members to stop bringing trash (plastic water bottles, glow sticks) to the festival and pick up their campsite once the festival ends. 

Fast-forward 10 months and FestEvo has everything you need to prepare for your favorite festival. The only thing FestEvo is missing is the funds to fully develop the application, so they need your help! They only have a few days left in the campaign to raise funds and you get awesome festival gear, tools, and accessories for your donations! You can help make FestEvo possible by donating and sharing this campaign with your friends!

Sharing is caring and caring is love, so show some love to FestEvo! Become a part of something much larger than the individual and change the festival going experience forever! And for that, we would salute You!

Check out the video below to learn more about the Festival Evolution!

The Black Cadillacs

The BlackCadillacs are a blues‐based indie rock band from Knoxville, TN. With members from each of Tennessee's major cities, the state's famous sounds are well represented. Nashville’s recent brand of rock n’ roll revival takes center stage, but a wash of authentic Memphis blues‐soul and a tinge of Knoxville country distill into a sound as rich and Southern as it is alive.

Alongside their native influences, The Black Cadillacs are heavily impacted by rock history. "Bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Pink Floyd laid the foundation for us. With the success of artists and bands like Jack White and My Morning Jacket, it’s easy to see that blues-­‐based rock n’ roll still resonates with audiences,” says guitarist, John Phillips. "We were inspired by the same bands; we’re just trying to keep those sounds alive in our own way."

From Memphis to Knoxville, Mick Jagger to Jack White, The Black Cadillacs' sophomore release, Run, pulls together more than 40 years worth of influence over this 11­‐track offering.

"Run is a veritable tapestry of lush blues and Southern soul with Phillips and guitarist Matthew Hyrka weaving varicolored webs of texture and melody over the solid foundation of bassist Philip Anderson and drummer Adam Bonomo," says Metro Pulse's Mike Gibson.

Released in June 2012, Run represents the band’s attempt to capture the dynamic energy of its live performance. The instrumentation was tracked live with the entire band in one room, just as the songs were written and perfected on the road.

The Black Cadillacs’ live set is where this well‐orchestrated yet explosive blend comes to life. Playing more than 100 dates in the past year, including sets at SXSW as a Red Bull Sound Select artist, The Black Cadillacs use raw emotion in frontman Will Horton’s voice to energize an audience and crank up the sound. "The group displayed a repertoire (old and new) of grooves, rockers and ballads," Red Bull Sound Select says of their SXSW performances. "They are often best when Horton showcases his voice over spare instrumentation ‐ the connection is undeniable.” 

The Neighborhood

Before we know it, the fall and winter season will be behind us and the festival season will be upon us. We are all eager to discover the featured-filled line-ups, and we’re certain that you all have began planning your travel and buying your early-bird tickets. If you haven’t done so, we suggest you get a head start on everyone else to avoid running into any additional cost.

As we progress our efforts to bring you the latest in music, art, fashion, and action, we find it necessary and extremely beneficial to make an appearance in Austin, TX at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals, March 8-17, 2013. This unique festival is a melting pot for musicians, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, distributors, and designers. We all have a favorite music festival, but nothing is as sweet as the entertainment industry’s version of spring break.

South by Southwest dates back to 1987 when it was started as just a music festival, and since, it has grown to include film, technology, and interactive categories. As the interactive categories of the festival began to form, it was largely made up of technology start-ups, investment firms and agencies. Last year (SXSW 2011) sparked the first installment of Style X (pronounced “style by”), the first fashion element added to the festival. This year at SXSW 2012, Style X was held at the Austin Convention Center as an SXSW-official event that was free and open to the public.

Unfortunately, Style X has decided to go its separate ways and will not be included in the fashion segment of SXSW 2013. Fortunately, Style X has ventured out to form an independent, unofficial event during the SXSW festival. The founders of Style X, Joah Spearman and Jon Patillo, decided to take the concept for a style program into their own hands and formed The Neighborhood. At the moment, we don’t have many details to share on The Neighborhood; however, as March 2013 approaches, we’ll have more information to share.

We feel that is our opportunity to showcase our talents, gain inspiration, and progress towards setting the standards for our generation and industry. We couldn’t thank the founders of Style X and The Neighborhood enough for having the courage to leave their shores to discover new land (not literally, but metaphorically). And for that, we salute you!

“Opportunities of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.”